231C.9A  Informal conference — formal contest — judicial review.
  1.  Within twenty business days after issuance of the final findings, the assisted living program shall notify the director if the program desires to contest the findings and do either of the following: 
  a.  Request an informal conference with an independent reviewer pursuant to subsection 2. Upon the conclusion of an informal conference, if the assisted living program desires to further contest an affirmed or modified regulatory insufficiency, it may do so by giving notice of intent to formally contest the regulatory insufficiency, in writing, to the department within five days after receipt of the written decision of the independent reviewer.
  b.  Request a contested case hearing in the manner provided by chapter 17A for contested cases. The formal hearing shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 17A and rules adopted by the department.
  2.  a.  The department shall provide an independent reviewer to hold an informal conference with an assisted living program within ten working days after receiving a request from the program pursuant to subsection 1, paragraph “a”. At the conclusion of the informal conference, the independent reviewer may affirm, modify, or dismiss a contested regulatory insufficiency. The independent reviewer shall state in writing the specific reasons for the affirmation, modification, or dismissal and immediately transmit copies of the statement to the department and to the program.
  b.  An independent reviewer shall be licensed as an attorney in the state of Iowa and shall not be employed or have been employed by the department in the past eight years or have appeared in front of the department on behalf of an assisted living program in the past eight years. Preference shall be given to an attorney with background knowledge, experience, or training in long-term care. The department may issue a request for proposals to enter into a contract for the purpose of providing one or more independent reviewers for informal conferences.
  3.  An assisted living program that has exhausted all adequate administrative remedies and is aggrieved by the final action of the department may petition for judicial review in the manner provided by chapter 17A.
2013 Acts, ch 26, §6, 7
; 2015 Acts, ch 80, §11
Section amended